economics
by tuxedomask-off
Summary: the only thing she regretted was taking a high school economics class, because Rei was the only good that came out of it.
1. economics - one

Minako's eyes fluttered open as her eyesight was just now, starting to focus on what her teacher was writing on the board. She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms and back in the process, as well as giving her neck a good satisfactory crack.

Yeah, she had just slept in class. It wasn't uncommon for her to do it, in fact she was known for doing the occasional snoozing, and Economics class was the best place to do it in. You see, she sat near the back, far away from the front where the teacher could see everything.

Minako Aino rarely paid any attention in class, she was too busy thinking about _more_ important things that mattered to her. Things like volleyball, international idols and boy bands, arcade games, manga, boys and girls...And well, a lot more. But fantasizing about these things cost Minako her grades, all of which were mostly below average. Especially in Economics Class.

She sighed and almost cringed when she looked down at her blank notebook, realizing and then remembering how she never bothered to actually write notes. Minako took a deep breath and turned to the girl who sat next to her on her left side.

She poked her with her pen until she got the other girl's attention.

"What?!" She snapped, turning her head to the right to look at Minako.

"Can you give me some of your notes, please?" Minako asked her. The girl terrified her a bit, if she was being honest.

"Maybe you should've made some before sleeping." She sassed back, slamming her pen on her desk and crossing her arms.

Minako blushed in embarrassment, and scratched her head nervously. "So...Can I have them?"

The other girl scoffed and rolled her eyes, but eventually gave them to Minako. "You're really annoying."

Minako grinned and gave her a small wink while taking her notebook. "Thanks Rei."

"Don't mention it." Rei replied back, and Minako wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

The blonde teen read over the notes. They were all written in neat, cursive writing. Minako's dark eyebrows lifted up.

 _Wow._ She thought. _Who has enough time to write in cursive?_

Apparently she did, in fact, whenever Minako looked at her she was always with her head down, writing.

Minako couldn't deny that she was pretty, actually prettier than she initially thought at the beginning of the year. Her hair was dark and shiny, and not much longer than her own. Her skin was quite pale, but while Rei's skin was pale, it brought out her features very well, like her dark eyebrows and amethyst eyes.

Her profile was also, kinda flawless. Her nose was straight, her eyelashes were long and her jawline was just...perfect.

Not that Minako _wasn't_ pretty, she too had her fair share of perfect features.

Anyways, Minako pushed back the thoughts of Rei away. She never even realized she paid that much attention to the girl. She sighed and read the notes again, trying to process what the fuck a 'Scarcity' was in Economic terms. She honestly regretted ever coming to this class, but it was too late now, they were halfway through the year.

Minako looked at the clock, and there was only a few minutes until lunch started. She was so thankful for sleeping for a majority of this period.

The blonde looked back at Rei, who was staring straight ahead at what the teacher was writing. Her lips were closed in a small pout, and she was crossing her arms tightly, gripping her jumper sleeve. Everyone was just a tiny bit scared of her, because at first glance she looked like she could bite your head off. No one really knew anything about her.

However, it wouldn't _kill_ her to say something nice, it wasn't like Minako was being annoying or anything.

It was so weird to her, because Rei was just so...cold and distant. And probably without even trying.


	2. economics - two

Minako panted and leaned against the wall, right outside her classroom door. She'd just come back from lunch late and had to sprint halfway across the school to get to her damn Economics class. Straightening her posture and unsticking her bangs from her sweaty forehead, Minako turned the doorknob and was ready to get a verbal ass beating from her teacher.

As soon as she opened the door, all eyes were on her. She smiled nervously at her teacher, who grunted in irritation.

"You're late, Aino." He grumbled under clenched teeth. "Get in your seat."

Minako nodded quickly and dashed to the back of the classroom, dropping down into her chair. Class resumed as normal, and the blonde teen let out a sigh of relief. It could've been worse.

Looking up at the teacher, who was blabbering Economical nonsense, she had no idea what they were doing in class. She had no notes either, only Rei's notes from the last class, which were proven useless as she realized they were moving on from the subject of currency drop in Southeast Asia.

She closed her eyes and put up two fingers to massage her temples, while her elbow was resting on the edge of her desk. Minako opened one eye, and that one eye looked over to her left side, at Rei.

She really didn't want to be a bother; however, she was never going to survive this class without Rei's help, she was the only person who sat near her that fully understood the subject. And while she was at it, she might as well find some common ground with the other girl. In fact, Minako _felt_ like she had to talk to Rei in order to cope with this class.

Maybe, just maybe, this time Rei might actually hold a proper conversation with her. Because Minako felt like she needed it.

She leaned in her chair just close enough to tug at Rei's jumper sleeve. Once she had the girl's undivided attention, she began speaking.

"What is he talking about? What work are we doing?" Minako asked, her hand still gripping Rei's sleeve.

Looking the blonde up and down, and snatching her sleeve back, the raven gave Minako her usual pissed off expression. "Perhaps you would know if you didn't come into class late."

Boom. A rock fell on Minako's head, and she just died. Okay, not literally, but it felt like it. This girl was impossible, she wouldn't even tell her what they were doing in class.

"Why won't you just tell me? I was late for…" Minako bit her thumb nervously. "Uh, reasons. It wasn't my fault I had to sprint halfway across school."

Rei shrugged and looked Minako up and down. "And that's my concern because…?"

Minako could feel her eyebrow twitching. She usually didn't get annoyed, but this girl was kinda pushing her buttons.

And weirdly...She slightly enjoyed it. Probably because it was more interesting than doing actual work.

However, Rei was being distant as usual, and it was about time Minako confronted her about it.

"Why are you always so like, distant?" Minako asked her, twirling her pencil in her fingers. "As in, you're so reserved from everyone, it's kinda scary. You look so unapproachable...Don't you want friends?"

Rei furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her jaw tightly, and it was visible from her slick jawline.

"So what if I'm distant," she said through gritted teeth, in a low voice, "why do you care?" Rei asked, gripping her jumper sleeve tightly as her eyes darted to Minako's cerulean ones.

She nervously played with her red bow that was standing out from the mane of blonde hair at the back of her head. She shrugged.

"I don't know...cause maybe I want to be your friend?"

Rei didn't say anything back, but her hard expression became slightly softer. And she released the tight grip she had on her jumper, too.

"I don't like being close with people." Rei eventually grumbled moodily.

Minako was on the edge of her chair. "Why not?" She asked, pushing the other girl to answer.

Rei's eyebrows scrunched together, and she was kinda frowning. The raven wasn't so keen on telling just a random girl one of her biggest fears. But then again, it wasn't like Minako was going to tell everyone.

So Rei folded her arms again and tightened her jaw.

"It's because I don't want to feel the fear of losing them." She kept her voice low and steady, but really, she was breaking down on the inside. Childhood memories of her family sparked in her head...enjoyable times all came to an abrupt end when her mother died.

Rei shook the thoughts out of her head and straightened her posture.

Minako raised an eyebrow. This girl probably had some personal problems or trust issues in order to say something like that.

Rei had her head down and was looking at her shoes. Her eyebrows? Once again, furrowed.

The blonde girl leaned closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Minako questioned.

The other girl flinched at her contact and didn't look at her when she replied. "Whatever, I'm fine." She answered, immediately, which made Minako think that she really _wasn't_ okay. However, she wasn't going to push it.

Minako backed off and sat properly in her own seat. Giving Rei a glance one more time, she looked back at the board.

But while her mind traveled somewhere else, she still couldn't ignore the tingly feeling she felt in her hand from making contact with Rei's shoulder.


	3. economics - three

Once again, Minako wasn't paying any attention in class. And on the rare occasions that she did, she'd end up falling asleep anyways. Everything was just so boring, and school made her so tired. She couldn't bear to have bags under her eyes, so she always just slept in this class.

However, while Minako was _not_ paying attention to what the teacher was saying, she actually wasn't sleeping this time.

Instead, she was looking at something more interesting. Rei Hino.

Minako liked the cute little faces she made when she couldn't see what was written on the board, or when someone made a really loud noise that made her lose her concentration.

Minako couldn't take her bright eyes off of her. Leaning her chin on the palm of her hand, the blonde teen gave a small smile while she gazed at the other girl.

While she was half daydreaming, half ogling Rei, it seemed like the raven was finally starting to notice what Minako was doing, as she whipped her head to the side, eyebrows furrowed.

"Why are you staring at me?" She asked all of a sudden, with a tiny bit of irritation sensed somewhere.

Minako almost jumped in her seat from the sudden accusation. Her cheeks turned red and her eyes widened.

"I...I was looking out...the window.." She stammered, pointing a slightly shaky finger to the window behind Rei.

The other girl rolled her eyes as she huffed up at her bangs, that nearly reached her eyes, reminding herself that she needed a haircut. "Whatever." She replied, turning back to write her notes.

Minako let out a breath of relief, placing her hand on her forehead.

"Fuck." She cursed under her breath quietly. It was a close one. Her heart was beating so hard, but she didn't think it was from almost being caught. At the same time, Minako felt a flutter in her stomach.

She didn't know what this feeling was. Jealousy? Fear? Anger? Happiness? _A crush?_

Whatever it was, Minako was confused as fuck.

School was finally over for the weekend, Minako mentally prayed to the gods that she was able to get through the week. Dashing out of the school grounds, Minako walked to her favorite place in the whole of Tokyo; Crown Arcade.

In fact her and her friends had been going there since they were in middle school, so I guess you could say it was their hangout space.

Minako whistled and slung her book bag over her shoulder, feeling relieved that it was the weekend.

"Hey Motoki!" She waved at the other teen once she arrived at the Crown. Motoki ran the arcade, and Minako had known him since she was 13, so they were pretty close. The blond teen waved back at her, a smile on his face.

Walking further, Minako found three of her friends sitting in the back booth, so she rushed over to them.

"Afternoon, fatties." Minako said, chucking her bag next to a small bluenette, who flinched at the sound.

Ami, she was called, a small nerdy teen with blue hair and eyes, which complemented her pale skin. What baffled Minako the most was the she actually liked studying. Who the fuck likes studying?

On the other side of the booth sat Makoto and Usagi. Makoto, or Mako, as that was her nickname, was a tall, but very gentle, brunette. She enjoyed cooking and gardening, and occasionally, was the Mom friend.

And lastly, there was Usagi. A spinning image of Minako, except more blonde and more dumb. Okay, that was an exaggeration. She wore her hair in an ordango style, which led to them calling her "Bun-Head" as a way to tease her. Usagi liked eating, sleeping and playing video games. And that was literally it. Oh, and she hated school too.

Makoto tipped her head to Minako, and then nudged the blonde beside her. "The only fat we're carrying here is Usagi." She smirked, watching her chug down a glass of ice cream.

Usagi swallowed it quickly and then pouted. "I'm not fat, just eating good!" She cried, getting ready to order another ice cream.

"What's this? An intervention?"

Minako turned sharply behind her as she heard the deep, husky voice and a light feminine giggle.

The gayest of the gayest arrived, hand in hand, Haruka and Michiru.

"Hey losers." Haruka flashed a charming smile to the younger teens. "As you can see, we're here and queer." She said, pointing to Michiru.

"So, why are you guys here anyways?" Minako asked, resting her elbows on the table.

"Haruka wants to play on the racing games." Michiru smiled, nudging her partner's shoulder slightly.

"Speaking of which, bet none of you guys can beat me." Haruka smirked.

Makoto slammed her palms on the table dramatically, which made Usagi's third ice cream glass shake. "I'll take you on." She said, narrowing her eyes.

Haruka snickered and pulled the other girl into a headlock, ruffling her hair in the process. "You can try." She chuckled.

Makoto tightly grabbed her arm and brought it down, freeing herself and ultimately racing to the arcade games.

The sandy blonde woman stood there grinning, before dashing after the other girl.

Michiru shook her head. "Ugh, it's like I'm dating a child."

At least Michiru actually acted her age, Haruka straight up had a mentality of a twelve year old.

Minako sighed and looked outside through the glass doors, ignoring Michiru's conversation with Ami and Usagi. At least the two had each other, she had...no one.

Her eyes lazily followed each car that drove past, until she spotted _her_ walking on the sidewalk. Minako's eyebrows shot up in surprise. It was the first time she'd seen her outside of school. Her head was down as always, and her dark, mid-waist length hair swayed with each step she took.

Minako jumped out of her seat and grabbed her bag. "Later!" She said to the three, before dashing outside to join her.

The blonde quietly walked a few steps behind the raven, as if to not make it obvious that she was kinda following her.

Not that Minako _wasn't_ the stalkerish type, she would do this all the time with celebrities, finding out where they live, figuring out their postal address, the type of underwear brand they wore, it was all in her nature.

So she trailed behind slowly. Realistically, this was pointless. There probably wasn't anything Minako was going to gain from it, other watching the other girl walk home. However, being the proud and strong Libra that she was, the blonde teen was quite the stubborn kind. So I guess she kept on following her, I don't know.

But when the girl in front of her abruptly stopped walking, she did too. And was a bit confused in the process.

Without turning around, she started to speak.

"How long are you going to keep following me?" She asked sharply, her head hanging low.

Minako jumped back and tried to think of an excuse. _Shit..How am I going to get out of this one?_

"Um…" _Think of something dumbass!_ "I was actually going to ask if you had a spare economics textbook...because I didn't get one...because I was late to class…" Minako mentally slapped herself for the most lamest excuse in the world.

The girl huffed, and what Minako could see in front of her, she had crossed her arms. "Sorry, you're going to ask the teacher for that." She replied, suddenly turning around to face the teen. "However, stalking me is not the best way to ask someone a question, am I right?" She raised an eyebrow.

Minako nodded, face flushed with red, which could either be embarrassment or...no, just embarrassment this time. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out." She apologized.

Before turning back to walk home, Minako looked up at the sky, not realizing how late it had gotten. "You should probably go back home, Rei, before it gets dark."

Rei's grip around her book bag tightened and she turned her head sharply away from the other girl, instead focusing on a stop sign ahead. "I don't care, it's not like anyone's there waiting for me." She mumbled.

But Minako could still hear it.


	4. economics - four

Rei wrote her notes in a neat manner, all cursive, all tidy. Even though she was left-handed, there was no smudging to the ink. And while doing so, she still listened to the teacher attentively.

Rei put her pen down on her desk, running a hand through her dark bangs that threatened to get into her eyes, reminding herself that she needed a haircut.

She stopped writing for a second and looked out the window, resting her chin on her palm. The skies were dark, and the clouds were gray, ready to spill rain. Never has weather been more comforting.

Rei turned away and tapped her fingers on the desk, her dark eyes examining everyone in the room. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, focusing on the board. The classroom aura had been quiet until now, when the door slammed open and a slightly sweaty blonde teen was leaning against the wall, catching her breath.

"Sorry I'm late." She apologized in a low voice, causing the teacher to twitch out of aggravation.

"This is the second time Aino! Three strikes is a detention!" He yelled, veins all over his bald head popping out indiscreetly.

Minako grinned and gave him a lazy thumbs up, walking over to her desk.

The teacher shook his head and continued explaining the lesson.

Minako dropped down into her chair and leaned her elbows on the desk, yawning loudly.

Same day, same class, same pain in the ass.

Rei raised an eyebrow when the blonde turned to look at her. The other girl gave the raven a tired, toothy grin.

"Let me guess, you want my notes?" She questioned.

Much to Rei's surprise, Minako pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket, waving it around proudly.

The dark-haired girl snorted, giving her a side glare. "That's a first."

Minako grinned again, unfolding the paper. "Aren't you proud?"

She shrugged, keeping her eyes on the board. "Not really."

The blonde frowned, putting down the piece of paper on her desk. She eyed Rei carefully. "Why not?"

"Because I don't care." Rei rolled her eyes and saw the blonde's shoulders deflated slightly from the corner of her eye. The raven sighed. " _Do_ you want me to care?"

For a moment, her amethyst eyes flickered to Minako's, and for a second, they made eye contact.

The younger girl flushed, nervously scratching the back of her head. "Well, It'd be nice…"

"Maybe I'd be proud of you actually came to class on time." Rei said, flipping through her notebook as a way of avoiding eye contact with her.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault I overslept!"

Rei nodded, not really paying attention, while Minako frowned and sunk in her seat, crossing her arms.

"Your grades are barely above average." Rei suddenly said. "Maybe you should make an effort in school."

Minako yawned lazily, brushing her off. "Yeah yeah, I'm trying."

"Doesn't seem like it." Rei mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her face expressionless.

It was at times like this where Minako never knew what types of thoughts circulated in Rei's head. Well, until she acted upon them. But her face was like a blank canvas, impossible to read.

"Hey, are you free this weekend?" The blonde asked, in hope of a positive answer.

Rei shifted, leaning her chin on her palm. "I don't like going out with people I have no interest in."

"I just want to go down to the arcade, that's all." Minako said, fiddling with her pen.

"I...don't you have friends you can go with?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow.

Minako fixed her posture and sat up in her seat. "They're all busy."

Rei huffed and moved her bangs out of her eyes. _How am I going to get out of this…_

"I'm busy as well. I have to do some chores around the house." She replied. It wasn't so much of a lie, because she _did_ have to do some chores, but it was more of a white lie to get the blonde to leave her alone.

Minako batted her eyelashes, sticking her bottom lip out. "Oh come on...there's nothing more important than me…"

Rei scrunched her eyebrows together in a confused way. She'd never seen anyone do something as stupid as that face expression. _What the fuck?_

She grunted and crossed her arms. "Hn, whatever. Just pick me up, okay?" She rolled her eyes.

Minako couldn't contain her excitement. She beamed at the other girl with a huge grin that she wouldn't be able to live down for the rest of the day.


End file.
